OCD #3, The Young Ones, Mid-July 2021

Either side of finally life ticking the Black-browed Albatross and adding an Elegant Tern the following day (see here) some birds seen locally provided me with great entertainment.

Wednesday 14th July, Marsh Gibbon, Bucks

I'd been working on a farm near Marsh Gibbon, a village set on the northern edge of the River Ray flood plains while the farm is surrounded by arable crops and lies on the western edge of BBOWT's Upper Ray Meadows Reserve which makes up a significant part of the flood plain. Luckily the farm is around 2 metres above the river level so doesn't flood! The house that I was helping to renovate has a porch, with a vaulted roof space, to the front door and four pairs of Swallows had attached their nests to the exposed beams. Despite the comings and goings of the builders the parent Swallows appeared to be none too bothered and were actively feeding the young throughout the day. The young themselves were at varying stages of development with one particular nest getting close to overflowing with four chicks growing to fledgling size. After forgetting to take my camera many times, I finally remembered it on the day that those four chicks finally "branched out" onto one of the beams and later into the yard outside. I spent a very happy break and, a little bit prolonged lunchtime photographing the chicks.

Some photos from under the porch eaves in the morning;

adult Swallows

young swallows

feed time

And some from outside in the early afternoon;

The fields surrounding the farmhouse also held other interesting birds. Partridges of both persuasions were seen most days as were the ubiquitous Red Kites. A Marsh Harrier sauntered through once and Little Owls could be heard, although I never found any of them. The best birds present were several pairs of Yellow Wagtails which clearly must have bred in the area owing to the number of juvenile birds. There were also Hares feeding on the grass lawns next to the house on most days before the work got going in earnest.

juvenile Yellow Wagtail

adult Yellow Wagtail

Brown Hare

Sunday 18th July, Banbury

After our weekend away twitching the Albatross and Elegant Tern it was back to local birding for the Sunday morning. WhatsApp birding groups have been one of the great improvements in obtaining local birding news that concern species that are not national rarities and via the Banbury group I had learned of a family of Little Owls that were staying faithful to their nesting tree near the town. It was forecast to be a scorching hot day so Mrs Caley and I arrived at the tree early and spent a very relaxing couple of hours watching the adults along with their two recently fledged Owlets.

adult Little Owl

juvenile Little Owl

It's been a good year for Little Owls locally and we've seen several around Oxfordshire after struggling to find any last year. We've also encountered a few while on our trips out further afield. This particular family had chosen an isolated tree to nest in that sits in a hay meadow but still close enough to the farm track to allow observation. 

Once the morning had warmed up the Owls began to hunt for insects in the recently cut field and used the hay bales and a tractor trailer as vantage points. It all made for a very quintessential British countryside scene.

The tree itself is typical of the type that Little Owls choose, old and partially decaying which provides lots of cavities but still bearing a lot of dense foliage around the bole of the tree which provides cover when required. The dead outer branches provide lots of photogenic perches for the Owls to pose on and the youngsters in particular seemed to enjoy clambering about in the outer boughs.

After taking hundreds photos of standing Owls, staring Owls and sleepy Owls, I set myself the task of attempting to capture the Owls in flight. 

There was still more time to get a few more frames of the fierce and piercing stare shots that Little Owls are renowned for! It had been a terrific morning!